MoJo Author Feeds: Lisa Larrimore Ouellette | Mother Joneshttp://www.motherjones.com/rss/authors/53836
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enLicense to Greenhttp://www.motherjones.com/environment/2010/04/climate-desk-clean-energy-patents
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<html><body><p><strong><em>Also from the Climate Desk: Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus <a href="http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/04/climate-desk/patent-law-green-innovation">argue that patents won't matter</a> in the clean-energy revolution.</em></strong></p>
<p>Developing new green technologies&mdash;like cheaper solar panels or methods of extracting energy from ocean tides&mdash;is a <a href="http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/803">top priority</a> for combating climate change, because global carbon emissions cannot be stabilized with existing technologies. In rich countries, where most tech development takes place, patents create incentives for innovation. But these new technologies will do little good if they are unaffordable in most of the world.</p>
<p>The tension between promoting new inventions and enabling access to them has created a <a href="http://www.iptoday.com/news-article.asp?id=4743">global deadlock</a> over patent law that's a stumbling block for an international climate treaty. In the run-up to last year's Copenhagen summit, countries like China and India <a href="http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/12/09/ip-issues-may-go-to-%E2%80%98higher-political-level%E2%80%99-in-copenhagen-amid-difficulties/">demanded special patent exemptions</a> for green technologies, so that they might use these technologies without paying high licensing fees. For example, Chinese car manufacturers are unable to produce low-cost hybrid cars because a small number of companies have patented key components. American companies, however, worry that patent law changes will cut into their profits, and last June, the House <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2009-323">unanimously</a> voted to prevent any weakening of international patent rights.</p>
<p><a href="http://theclimatedesk.org/"><span class="inline inline-left"><img width="104" height="139" class="image image-preview" title="" alt="" src="http://motherjones.com/files/images/CDLogo.JPG"></span></a>There's a way out of this impasse: The United States could appease its global critics without changing international patent laws&mdash;while simultaneously making green technologies cheaper for Americans. Our government can do this simply by changing the way in which federally funded inventions are patented.</p></body></html>
<p style="font-size: 1.083em;"><a href="/environment/2010/04/climate-desk-clean-energy-patents"><strong><em>Continue Reading &raquo;</em></strong></a></p>EnvironmentClimate ChangeClimate DeskEnergyTop StoriesWed, 21 Apr 2010 08:00:12 +0000Lisa Larrimore Ouellette53861 at http://www.motherjones.com